Amplifiers – With semiconductor amplifying device – Including plural stages cascaded
Reexamination Certificate
1998-02-23
2001-04-10
Shingleton, Michael B (Department: 2817)
Amplifiers
With semiconductor amplifying device
Including plural stages cascaded
C330S286000, C330S277000, C330S302000, C330S307000, C257S347000, C257S352000, C455S073000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06215360
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed generally to the field of electronic amplifiers, and particularly to amplifiers for use in power output stages of RF (Radio Frequency) communication products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In products such as RF transceivers, it is desirable to integrate as much circuitry as possible on a single, semiconductor chip. This has not been practical for most such products because of the power requirements associated with the transmitter's power output stage. Consequently, the power output stage has usually been constructed as an off-chip, discrete amplifier.
Certain semiconductor products and processes have been thought to be nearly ideal for integrating RF communication systems on silicon. One such process is referred to as SOI (Silicon-on-Insulator). It offers high circuit density, low power operation at low supply voltage, intrinsically high substrate isolation, and other properties that make it very suitable for digital and small-signal RF applications. However, SOI has not been considered as practical for integrating the RF power output stages used by two-way communication products. The problem is heat transfer.
In the typical SOI process, silicon dioxide is used as the insulator over a silicon substrate. The thermal conductivity of the silicon dioxide is much lower than that of silicon. In addition, due to second-order effects, the thermal conductivity of the silicon itself, when placed in thin layers, is less than the its bulk value by as much as 35 percent. These effects cause severe self-heating in large SOI power devices, and limit the amount of power one may generate on-chip. This forces the power amplifier to be off chip, with all of the associated cost and size penalties of discrete components.
Another technology that has been used successfully in small signal applications is referred to as CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). The drawbacks of CMOS for RF applications include its inability to provide good inductors, and its large parasitic substrate capacitance. Consequently, CMOS has not usually been considered a good technology for RF applications.
It has been reported that CMOS may be combined with SOI in certain RF applications involving relatively low power and small signals. See, for example “CMOS-Microwave Wide band Amplifiers and Mixers on SIMOX-Substrates” by Eggert et al., European Solid State Circuits Conference, September 1995, pp 302-305. However, power output stages have not been practical to build using SOI, CMOS or a combination of SOI and CMOS technologies. Consequently, the power output stages of RF products continue to be constructed with discrete components, resulting in RF products that are larger and more expensive than is desired.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4418470 (1983-12-01), Naster et al.
patent: 5021743 (1991-06-01), Chu et al.
patent: 5663570 (1997-09-01), Reedy et al.
patent: 5939755 (1999-08-01), Takeuchi et al.
Tan, Y., Kumar, M., Sin, J., Shi, L., and Lau, J., “A 900-MHz Fully Integrated SOI Power Amplifier for Single-Chip Wireless Transceiver Applications,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, vol. 35, No. 10, Oct. 2000.
Power Amplifiers on Thin-FilmSilicon-on-Insulator(TFSOI) Technology by D. Ngo, W.M. Huang, J.M. Ford and Dan Spooner of Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector, Mesa, AZ, 1999 IEEE Internation SOI Conference, Oct. 1999, pp. 133-134.
Thomas T. Y. Wong, Fundamentals of Distributed Amplification, Boston: Artech House 1993; ISBN 0-89006-615-9.
Huang, W. M., Ngo, D., Babcock, J., Shin, H.C., Welch, P., Rancanelli, M., Foerstner, J., Ford, J., and Cheng S., TFSOI Complementary BiCMOS Technology for Low Power RF mixed-Mode Applications, IEEE 1996, Advanced Custom Technologies, Motorola, Inc. 0-7803-3177-6.
Saul, P.H., The Bonded Wafer Silicon on Insulator Approach to High Performance Low Power Integrated Circuits, the Institution of Electricla Engineers, 1995, London UK.
Stanley, T. D., the State-of-the-Art in SOI Technology, Defense Nuclear Agency, Virginia USA 1999 IEEE 0018-9499/88/1200-1346301.00.
Hughes, W. and Brucker G. J., Radiation Hardened MOS Technology, RCA Laboratories, NJ, Jul. 1979, Solid State Technology.
Hitachi Releases Single-Chip High-Frequency Signal Processing IC for Digital Cellular Standards GSM-900, DCS-1800/1900 Dual-Bank Use, Hitachi 1999 http://global hitachi.com/New/cnews/E1999/991116B.html.
“MESFET Distributed Amplifier Design Guideline”, James B. Beyer, S.N. Prasad, Robert C. Becker, James E. Nordman and Gert K. Hohenwarter IEEE Transaction on Microwave Theory and Techniques, bol. MTT-32, No. 3, Mar. 1984, pp. 268-275.*
“Distributed amplifiers: Their time comes again”, part 1, Microwaves & RF, Nov. 1984 pp. 119-127*
“Distributed amplifiers: Their time comes again”, part 2, Microwaves and RF, Dec. 1984, pp. 126-131 & 153.*
“CMOS-Microwave Wideband Amplifiers and Mixers on SIMOX-Substrates”, European solid-state circuits conference, Lille, France, Sep. 1995, pp. 302-305.*
“Silicon MOSFET distributed amplifier”, Electronics Letters, Jun. 6, 1996, vol. 32 No. 12.
Motorola Inc.
Shingleton Michael B
LandOfFree
Semiconductor chip for RF transceiver and power output... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Semiconductor chip for RF transceiver and power output..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Semiconductor chip for RF transceiver and power output... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2519416